Mike and Liz live near Amherst, raising goats on a hobby farmHS4 while she also works as a waitress at the Chicago Inn in Bradford.HS1"Liz occasionally did vocals with a country-western band that included Mike" who played guitar.HS5 There is no mention of other work Mike might do although when they were in college, "he works in the shop at Burleigh's"DM3

The couple attend the 1998 Halloween in Drag party at the Heisler's where Mike won the Denis E. Riley Memorial Award for the Most Likely To Pass As A Woman. His description was "Mike Austin had on a simple blouse and brown skirt, really not too far out. He had long hair anyway, but it had been done up a bit, and he was wearing women's glasses." Unlike the other men, his outfit was sufficiently average to not stick out from the crowd.HS4 At this time Liz and Mike were described as being about fifty to seventy-five pounds overweight.